Regensburg 2010 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help

BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 32: Posters: Physics of Cells

BP 32.37: Poster

Thursday, March 25, 2010, 17:15–20:00, Poster B1

Modelling protein accumulation at DNA damage sites — •Daniel Löb and Barbara Drossel — Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institut für Festkörperphysik

Cells react to DNA damage by rapidly accumulating and chemically modifying repair and signalling proteins. As a result of this, zones of massively increased repair protein concentrations, called foci, appear centered around the damage sites. The reaction processes that govern the formation of these foci are characterized by ongoing association and dissociation of proteins at specific rates.

We explore the protein accumulation dynamics using analytical calculations as well as computer simulations based on ordinary differential equations and stochastic methods. It is a focus of our work to investigate the possibility of multistability and switching between different pathways.

We also discuss the implications this has on our understanding of the single-strand break repair mechanism Base Excision Repair (BER).